Indeed, Lin Dan, The Magician (my new moniker for him, more suitable than 'Super Dan', which suits him more in his younger days), proves all his critics, deniers, detractors and naysayers wrong, so wrong. All of them silenced, hopefully, for good.
This idea that someone is beyond critique is so foreign to me. Why would you say/think that? The criticism that was valid before this tournament is still valid. That which wasn't still isn't. The only people that were proven wrong were those that said he'd never win a tournament again, but tbh I don't recall such comments in this thread. Regardless, congrats to LD. I certainly didn't think he had it in him anymore, glad to see that particular opinion was not entirely correct
Great match by Lin Dan. He showed an attacking mindset right from the start and proved to us he still has the desire to win which had been lacking the past 12 months. Behind all the optimism, I still believe there are a few areas where he is noticeably weaker in from this match. His attacks are nowhere as lethal as a year ago (AE2018 to be exact). His follow up is slower, forcing him to continue to rally even in the presence of a half chance, though he displayed great effort to kill off a couple of them today. You see him scrambling to get to a lot of defensive blocks from Chen Long, compromising his position a lot. His defence is still relatively weak. His deception is however as good as ever, and the awareness to take advantage of court conditions (hitting lifts to the right far side to take advantage of the drift) is still there. I think he would still struggle against Viktor, one who can rush him and punish his court positioning when he tries to force an attack, although the match in SG wouldn’t be the best indicator considering his fatigue. However I think he could match decently against Momota if he gets back to shape, Momota being very defensive would allow LD to dictate the pace as he wants Cautiously optimistic on the GOAT’s comeback!
It almost felt like deja vu, in 2017 when Lin Dan beat LCW in the MAS Open Final title bout, he was also more attacking than usual or expected, in G2 and G3 against Chen Long this time. Frankly, the moment I saw Lin Dan lost G1 by a pathetic score of 21-9, it's a reality check although I more or less expected Chen Long to put 'the grand old man' in his place. That's it, I thought, game over. I was under no illusion Lin Dan could even put up a decent fight in G2. What happened next was almost unimaginable, G3 more so than G2, it's like watching a different Lin Dan than in G1, reminiscent of how he played his perpetual rival , LCW, in the 2018 All England and the 2017 MAS Open , with glimpses of his former prowess. Mind-blowing, out of this world. I think Chen Long was lulled into complacency after an easy and overwhelming win in the 1st game. Little did he bargain for Lin Dan to come back strongly playing a more positive and proactive G2 and G3 as well. And when Chen Long lost G2, to his own surprise, I'm sure, he was still confident G3 shouldn't pose too much of a problem for him. I myself thought, surely G3 is beyond Lin Dan, his stamina is the number one concern. But when Lin Dan continued in the same vein and even initiated more of the attack to put him on the defensive now and then, Chen Long became tentative, impatient and lost his touch smashing wide a number of times in the attempt to force the issue, including other unforced errors. The end result says it all. To conclude, Lin Dan defied all the odds, the ravages of age, and Father Time even, just when he's being written off by most people and, sometimes, ridiculed in certain quarters for his many humiliating 1st and 2nd round exits. Lin Dan, The Living Legend, is not over yet. The story of goes on as Lin Dan, The Magician, writes a new chapter in his long, illustrious career.
One step at a time. One match at a time. Compared to his form and performance in the last 3 or 4 tournaments this year, this Malaysia Open was probably a huge upgrade. Look forward to the improved version of him in the near future. Thailand Masters? LK who?
Fair enough, but with VA being temperamental at times and occasionally not on top of his game, you never know if Lin Dan can do it to him too the way he did to the five unlucky ones at the MAS Open. I have in mind VA's much-discussed problem with Momota, and his defeat to Jonatan Christie in the QFs in two straight sets, not to mention his earlier defeats to Chen Long, Anders Antonsen, Zhao Junpeng, Anthony Ginting, and LCW (at the MAS Open last June), including Kazumasa Sakai last January (maybe a bit far off). Yeah, you've a good point, his next week's SG Open R1 clash with VA is not a fair indicator considering his accumulated fatigue. A stand-alone tournament, not back-to-back, will be a better gauge.
Yeah, just that it's not often enough, if not because it's the final and the decider, I seriously doubt he would unleash it more than a couple of times. Too energy-sapping for him, esp that cross-court smash which requires him covering the long diagonal each time it's returned just over the net. Even the straight smash and follow-up to the net to put it away is somewhat taxing for him. You're absolutely right, we haven't seen him attacked with such intensity for a long time, over 1.5 years, you say.
I’ll have you know that S.... I mean Nine Tailed Fox had lost all hopes about Lin Dan whenever he came up as a subject of conversation IRL.
At the end of the match, Lin Dan was seen sitting on his haunches choking with emotions, it seems, instead of showing his usual expressive or wild celebrations. As he got up and walked towards the net to shake Chen Long 's hand, he appeared to wipe his tears off with his fingers. Only then after shaking hands with Chen Long did he turned around, shaking his right fist as he walked to shake hands with the service judge. Finally, he raised his arms above the shoulders, a hand in fist, the other holding aloft the racquet in triumphant gesture. Apparently, today's victory winning a top-tier tournament after a long title drought and too many disappointments, failures and setbacks, meant the world to him. We, his ardent fans, are ecstatic too.
Come to think of it with the benefit of hindsight, had Lin Dan not stepped it up and gone on the offensive more in G2 and G3, and suddenly injecting pace quite a bit more than is the case the last one, two years - I believe Chen Long would rally Lin Dan into the ground. Then that's the end of the story, no more rejoicing for Lin Dan fans.
You mean for some fans who had pretty much given up hopes and flattened LD's chance to the floor and flooded this thread with despairing posts about how he should have retired and so on and so on?
“My performance last year was not ideal. As a result I was under a lot of pressure and I had doubts about myself,” said Lin Dan. “I have been playing for so many years, now that I’m at the tail end of my career, I hope everyone can understand that it’s normal that my form fluctuates. I feel that I played well in this Malaysia Open because I was very determined, in good form and hungry for victory. I didn’t play at an exceptionally high level in this tournament, all I did was stick to my strategy and play to my strengths.” https://bwfworldtour.bwfbadminton.c...erdans-back-malaysia-open-mens-singles-final/
